The present invention relates to a condenser suitable for use in, for example, a car air conditioner mounted on an automobile.
Herein and in the appended claims, the upper side, lower side, left-hand side, and right-hand side of FIGS. 1, 11, 15, and 17 will be referred to as “upper,” “lower,” “left,” and “right,” respectively, and a direction perpendicular to the sheets on which FIGS. 1, 11, 15, and 17 are drawn respectively will be referred to as an “air-passing direction.”
A widely known condenser for a car air conditioner (hereinafter referred to as the “known condenser”) has a condensation section which includes one or more heat exchange paths, a condensation section inlet header, and a condensation section outlet header. Each of the heat exchange paths is formed by a plurality of heat exchange tubes disposed parallel to one another such that their longitudinal direction coincides with the left-right direction and they are spaced from one another in the vertical direction. The condensation section inlet header is disposed such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the vertical direction, and an upstream end (in the refrigerant flow direction) of the heat exchange path located furthest upstream in the refrigerant flow direction communicates with the condensation section inlet header. The condensation section outlet header is disposed such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the vertical direction, and a downstream end (in the refrigerant flow direction) of the heat exchange path located furthest downstream in the refrigerant flow direction communicates with the condensation section outlet header, so that refrigerant having flowed through all the heat exchange paths of the condensation section flows into the condensation section outlet header. An inlet member is joined to the condensation section inlet header and has a refrigerant inflow passage which is open at opposite ends and through which refrigerant flows into the condensation section inlet header. An outlet member is joined to the condensation section outlet header and has a refrigerant outflow passage which is open at opposite ends and through which refrigerant flows out of the condensation section outlet header.
In order to improve the heat exchange efficiency of the above-described known condenser, it is effective to render the flow rate of refrigerant uniform among all the heat exchange tubes constituting the heat exchange path communicating with the condensation section inlet header, by adjusting the vertical position of an inflow opening of the condensation section inlet header through which refrigerant flows into the condensation section inlet header and the vertical position of an outflow opening of the condensation section outlet header through which refrigerant flows out of the condensation section outlet header.
Incidentally, in the case of a car air conditioner mounted on an automobile, in consideration of routing of pipes for connecting components of the car air conditioner, a restriction may be imposed on the vertical position of the inflow opening through which refrigerant flows into the condensation section inlet header of the condenser, and in the above-described known condenser, difficulty may arise in rendering the flow rate of refrigerant uniform among all the heat exchange tubes of the heat exchange path communicating with the condensation section inlet header.
There has been proposed a condenser which can render the flow rate of refrigerant uniform among all the heat exchange tubes of a heat exchange path for refrigerant condensation without adjusting the vertical positions of the refrigerant inflow opening and the refrigerant outflow opening (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2004-353936). In the proposed condenser, a partition member is disposed in at least one of the condensation section inlet header and the condensation section outlet header so as to divide the interior space into a space on the heat exchange tube side and a space opposite the heat exchange tube side. A plurality of communication holes for establishing communication between the two spaces are provided in the partition member at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and the sizes of the communication holes are adjudged in accordance with their positions in the vertical direction.
However, in the proposed condenser, since at least one of the condensation section inlet header and the condensation section outlet header has a partition member for dividing the interior space into a space on the heat exchange tube side and a space opposite the heat exchange tube side, the number of parts increases, and weight and cost increase as a result of an increase in the number of parts.
The applicant of the present invention has proposed a condenser which can render the flow rate of refrigerant uniform among all the heat exchange tubes of a heat exchange path for refrigerant condensation, while suppressing an increase in the number of parts and an increase in cost (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2015-92120). The proposed condenser has a condensation section, a super-cooling section provided below the condensation section, and a liquid receiving section provided between the condensation section and the super-cooling section. The condensation section includes one or more heat exchange paths, a condensation section inlet header, and a condensation section outlet header. Each of the heat exchange paths is formed by a plurality of heat exchange tubes disposed parallel to one another such that their longitudinal direction coincides with the left-right direction and they are spaced from one another in the vertical direction. An upstream end (in the refrigerant flow direction) of the heat exchange path located furthest upstream in the refrigerant flow direction communicates with the condensation section inlet header. A downstream end (in the refrigerant flow direction) of the heat exchange path located furthest downstream in the refrigerant flow direction communicates with the condensation section outlet header, so that refrigerant having flowed through all the heat exchange paths of the condensation section flows into the condensation section outlet header. The condensation section inlet header has a refrigerant inflow opening at a position offset from the longitudinal center of the condensation section inlet header toward one end thereof. An inlet member is joined to the condensation section inlet header and has a refrigerant inflow passage which is open at opposite ends and through which refrigerant flows into the condensation section inlet header. The super-cooling section includes one or more heat exchange paths for super-cooling, a super-cooling section inlet header, and a super-cooling section outlet header. Each of the heat exchange paths for super-cooling is formed by a plurality of heat exchange tubes disposed parallel to one another such that their longitudinal direction coincides with the left-right direction and they are spaced from one another in the vertical direction. The super-cooling section inlet header is disposed such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the vertical direction, and an upstream end (in the refrigerant flow direction) of the heat exchange path for super-cooling located furthest upstream in the refrigerant flow direction communicates with the super-cooling section inlet header. The super-cooling section outlet header is disposed such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the vertical direction, and a downstream end (in the refrigerant flow direction) of the heat exchange path for super-cooling located furthest downstream in the refrigerant flow direction communicates with the super-cooling section outlet header. An outlet member is joined to the super-cooling section outlet header and has a refrigerant outflow passage which is open at opposite ends and through which refrigerant flows out of the super-cooling section outlet header. The liquid receiving section communicates with the condensation section outlet header and the super-cooling section inlet header, so that the refrigerant having flowed out of the condensation section outlet header flows into the super-cooling section inlet header through the liquid receiving section. The inlet member has a close contact portion which is in close contact with a predetermined region of the outer circumferential surface of the circumferential wall of the condensation section inlet header, the predetermined region containing the refrigerant inlet. The entirety of the refrigerant inflow passage of the inlet member is present outside the condensation section inlet header. An opening at one end of the refrigerant inflow passage of the inlet member serves as an inflow opening into which refrigerant from the outside flows, and an opening at the other end of the refrigerant inflow passage of the inlet member serves as an outflow opening from which refrigerant flows into the condensation section inlet header. The outflow opening is open to the close contact portion such that the outflow opening coincides with the refrigerant inlet of the condensation section inlet header. The refrigerant inflow passage of the inlet member has a straight portion located on the outflow opening side and has a predetermined length, and the straight portion is inclined such that the straight portion approaches the longitudinal center of the condensation section inlet header and the heat exchange tube while extending from the inflow opening side toward the outflow opening side.
However, in this proposed condenser, since the entirety of the refrigerant inflow passage of the inlet member is present outside the condensation section inlet header, the inlet member has a relatively large size, and as a result, the size of the condenser increases, thereby restricting the freedom of layout.